Politics & Legislation
Politics & Legislation IUOE Gets the Vote Out in Key State and Federal Races LABOR’S VOICE HAS returned to Capitol Hill and to many State Houses across the nation. Americans voted in record numbers in the 2018 mid-term elections where IUOE members and working families everywhere helped to elect pro-worker candidates from both parties. International Union staff deployed to Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to assist local unions in mobilizing union members for the 2018 elections. Local unions led the way to victory in all of those places, racking up significant wins for working people in races for the House, Senate and governors’ offices in all five states. soundly defeated in a race that election handicappers did not see coming. The House Republican Caucus is likely to retain over 40 Republican supporters of Davis-Bacon prevailing wages in the next Congress. The new Democratic majority in the House has vowed to take up an IUOE priority and move a 0 billion infrastructure bill through their chamber over the next two years. The Democratic chairmen and Republican leaders of the key committees for Operating Engineers – the Energy and electoral effort in history. Driven by conversations between union members at the doorstep, over the phone and at worksites, the AFL-CIO’s program also deployed massive radio, digital and direct mail campaigns. Membership polling this cycle found that persuadable voters trust their unions more than any other source of political information. The massive effort succeeded in putting over 740 union members into elected office at the local, state and national levels. General President Callahan congratulated Operating Engineers on victories around the country. “It was a big night for Operating Engineers. We beat the two biggest anti-union governors in the country in Illinois and Wisconsin and saved thousands of jobs rebuilding California’s transportation network,” said President Callahan. Voters in California resoundingly turned back the effort to repeal the recently-passed gas tax through Proposition 6. Despite facing an uphill battle, a sustained campaign, focused on safety and accountability, carried the day, continuing millions of hours of work for members of the IUOE. It was a huge victory for IUOE jobs and the safety of California drivers. Democrats took the majority in the Unites States House of Representatives. The only thing unclear at press time is the exact margin of victory; there were still ballots being counted in many close races. The IUOE lost some Republican allies this election, both at the ballot box and to retirements. Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R- NJ) retired after a long, distinguished career in Congress. He led the Republican Labor Caucus and was a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He educated his colleagues on “the sanctity of the collective bargaining agreement” and was a stalwart supporter of the IUOE. Dan Donovan (R-NY), Congressman from Staten Island and close ally of the IUOE, was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night. He was Commerce and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committees – will continue to be strong Davis-Bacon supporters. Two IUOE-endorsed energy- Democrats lost United States Senate races in Indiana and North Dakota. However, we helped re-elect the Senators from Montana and West Virginia, and flipped the seat in Nevada. Senate races in Arizona and Florida had not been called as of this writing. Scores of IUOE members volunteered from coast-to-coast. They took part in the Labor Movement’s largest member-to-member [above] IUOE Local 12 members John Flot, Mike Cavasos and Jim Sargent were part of the Nevada AFL-CIO get-out-the-vote program in Las Vegas. [photo] Emmelle Israel, AFL-CIO [opposite page, top] Mark Maierle, Joe Hinely, Josh Neuhauser spread the word on union baked candidates in Green Bay, Wisconsin. [photo] IUOE [opposite page, bottom] Visting union households on Election Day 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 12 INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER FALL 2018 13
